Capping Xenon K

[samoja]

So i want to cap a K, i have been at it whole day, i have 3 M7M each with 20 perfect(100 in everything) marines, but still nothing, i can't rely get any better equipment then i have, but it takes too much micro to get all 60 marines aboard, i got 40 once and they got cut down, any advice

EDIT:Just did it, it took all 3 ships and i lost 26 perfect marines but i guess this dirt cheap battleship is worth it.

[Black_hole_suN]

This is how I do it...

- you need to have at-least 2 M7M and one of them should be piloted by you

- have all involving ships to follow you in a formation that keep the ships as close as possible (Line or X formation is preferred)

- K should be no less than 8Km but not farther than 12Km. Lower its shields

- launch 1 flail missile every 3-5 sec.. this will be you "flail tunnel". this will act as distraction for the turrets at the same time it keeps the K's shields low

- Quickly order one of your M7M to launch marines via Additional commands, this will not break the autopilot of the ship.. after the marines launch quickly fire 4 flails at the K, then after that maintain the "flail tunnel"

- the first 20 marines reach the hull they will start cutting away. after the first batch of marines successfully entered the hull launch 1 boarding pod (that's four marines) from your ship. they will (hopefully) reach the hull before the 1st batch cleared deck 1. if they do these reinforcements will
join the fight at the before or at start of deck 3.. keep lowering the shields of the K

- when the 2nd batch entered the hull, fire another Pod (that's 4 marines again). they should reach the hull before your 1st and 2nd batch cleared deck 3.. if they do they should join the fight at the start or on the middle of deck 5.. at these moment you can stop firing flails..

You can try altering these by messing with the timing of when to launch marines to make it more comfortable for you. the core idea of these method is that there should be at least 16 marines still alive before the marines start hacking the core.. or else they will all die..

It is ideal that there are 21 marines in the first batch, this is why you might need a Sirokos


Edit: Congratulations!! (though i think you lost too many marines)

[samoja]

This is how I do it...

- you need to have at-least 2 M7M and one of them should be piloted by you

- have all involving ships to follow you in a formation that keep the ships as close as possible (Line or X formation is preferred)

- K should be no less than 8Km but not farther than 12Km. Lower its shields

- launch 1 flail missile every 3-5 sec.. this will be you "flail tunnel". this will act as distraction for the turrets at the same time it keeps the K's shields low

- Quickly order one of your M7M to launch marines via Additional commands, this will not break the autopilot of the ship.. after the marines launch quickly fire 4 flails at the K, then after that maintain the "flail tunnel"

- the first 20 marines reach the hull they will start cutting away. after the first batch of marines successfully entered the hull launch 1 boarding pod (that's four marines) from you ship. they will (hopefully) reach the hull before the 1st batch cleared deck one. if they do these reinforcements will
join the fight at the before or at start of deck 3.. keep lowering the shields of the K

- when the 2nd batch entered the hull, fire another Pod (that's 4 marines again). they should reach the hull before you 1st and second batch cleared deck 3.. if they do they should join the fight at the start or on the middle of deck 5.. at these moment you can stop firing flails..

You can try altering these by messing with the timing of when to launch to make it more comfortable for you. the core idea of these method is that there should be at least 16 marines still alive before when the marines start hacking the core should.. or else they will all die..

It is ideal that there are 21 marines in the first batch, this is why you might need a Sirokos

Thanks man, didn't know Sirokos can hold 30 marines, anyway i just managed to cap it with 3 Ares albeit with heavy losses(26 guys) their sacrifice will be remembered, it is currently being REd in my HQ.

[RayF]

26 marines?!! Is this acceptable to you??
how much time will you need to train again 26 marines back to 100% ??
Dont really require a reply. just something for you to think.
Its all comes back to your game style.

[samoja]

26 marines?!! Is this acceptable to you??
how much time will you need to train again 26 marines back to 100% ??
Dont really require a reply. just something for you to think.
Its all comes back to your game style.

K is an M2 that costs about as much as average TL to produce while while being almost comparable to Boreas in stats, i think i gained more than i lost, now i can build a fleet of uberpawnersm, i only need a few complexes to produce weapons for them.

[Bill Huntington]

K and J are the hardest capitals to capture in TC. They are the ultimate trophy. When I had them, I didn't find anything special about them. They're slow! Don't remember exactly, perhaps a wide weapons selection might make them a good choice. But any of the big capital weapons is good enough for me.

[OniGanon]

I didn't find anything special about them

IIRC they are by far the cheapest capitals to mass produce.

[Black_hole_suN]

They are the ultimate trophy.

K and J are trophy ships, but the Ultimate Trophy Award goes to the Xenon Px. It is the hardest ship to to board in TC.. around 2 marines die in each deck of the Px and you will need all 5 marines alive to start hacking the central computer or else they will all die instantly.. I personally had nightmares trying to bring additional marines before the initial squad got wiped out (they all die usually at deck 2)..

it has a very soft hull that a few flails will kill it when the shields are down, so you have to be very careful when keeping the shields low..

and did I mention that the Px has PBE on its turrets with impressive coverage?? those little thing will one-shot all kinds of missiles in TC including Boarding pods, luckily the front turrets usually don't fire at incoming missiles but when they do, not even a "flail tunnel" will work against a Px

[samoja]

I didn't find anything special about them

IIRC they are by far the cheapest capitals to mass produce.

Idk about I but K is about 1/4 of a cost in resources of equivalent M2, also J is the cheapest Carrier to produce while having one of the best overall stats of all carriers so i guess when i replenish my marines i will try to cap one of those.

[hisazul]

I didn't find anything special about them

IIRC they are by far the cheapest capitals to mass produce.

Idk about I but K is about 1/4 of a cost in resources of equivalent M2, also J is the cheapest Carrier to produce while having one of the best overall stats of all carriers so i guess when i replenish my marines i will try to cap one of those.

Yep J and K are dirt cheap to manufacture. Unlike anything that comes close to them.

Also only people that are REALLY bored and in dire need to feel PAIN board xenon corvettes you fry more marines then it takes to board a regula cap ship.

[zazie]

PX .. it has a very soft hull that a few flails will kill it when the shields are down, so you have to be very careful when keeping the shields low..

and did I mention that the Px has PBE on its turrets with impressive coverage?? those little thing will one-shot all kinds of missiles in TC including Boarding pods, luckily the front turrets usually don't fire at incoming missiles but when they do, not even a "flail tunnel" will work against a Px

You are right, PXs are a pain. But they are worth it, very good playership for combat.
I usually use the Springblossom to keep the shields of P/PX down (they both have an astonishing shield-recovering power) that has enough cargo space for a large number of Poltergeist-missiles. Spam them before launching the Marines and continue spamming Poltergeists as long as the Pods are on their way. The Poltergeists will distract any anti-missile-weapon and not harm the target. For a 100%-success you must "guarantee" that the anti-missile-weapons of the target don't find the Pods as "next target".

With an non-terran M6, WASPs can do the job, too, but imo a little bit less effective.

btw. If you like to fly the "Big ships of the Bad", then go to the Xtended Mod. You have a fair chance that K, J, I, even Kha'ak Corvettes, frigates or Dreadnoughts actually bail.

[samoja]

You have a fair chance that K, J, I, even Kha'ak Corvettes, frigates or Dreadnoughts actually bail.

Which is IMHO totally unrealistic and immersion breaking, the fighter bailing is realistic i guess but a battleship?

[pjknibbs]

Which is IMHO totally unrealistic and immersion breaking, the fighter bailing is realistic i guess but a battleship?

Xenon ships are all controlled by an AI core, so is it unreasonable to assume that AI core can be damaged or destroyed in a battle, allowing you to claim the ship? Now, if it was any other race's destroyer, where there are presumably hundreds or even thousands of crew aboard, that's a different matter.

[phoenix-it]

After seeing the "I" in AP, I definitely want one... But I'm fairly sure the level of frustration involved will be nightmarish.

[OniGanon]

Also only people that are REALLY bored and in dire need to feel PAIN board xenon corvettes you fry more marines then it takes to board a regula cap ship.

Which is a shame, because OMG dat Xenon P turn rate...

[zazie]

Which is IMHO totally unrealistic and immersion breaking, the fighter bailing is realistic i guess but a battleship?

In XTC you can adapt the settings for "bailing-rate" per ship class. So no problem to set it to 0,00 % for anything bigger than M3+ or M6, if you like.

[samoja]

Anyway my first K rolled of the conveyor belt today, i have been using it as a personal ship for a few hours, i must say i like what i see, cargo problems are not all that great if you use a combo of GC and PPC instead of the terran weapons, also while it ain't as fast as Boreas i found that in combat it only serves to ram you straight into the enemy you are shooting at. It is very maneuverable so it can dodge a lot of incoming shoots and if it needs to flee, well that is what jumpdrive is for.

[LTerSlash]

- P and PX are basicly FREE like any other ship... just board them with 9 marines with 100 fighting, you are not gona lose any of them unless they had Internal lasers, just remember to pickup the 9th one from space after the boarding.

Also the P has a excelent steering and im also considering them for in-sector miners for the Aran...

- Q this is the one you have to avoid, PPC may look cool, but they will run out of energy fast, the Tiger and even the Panther are way better choice for firepower.

- I man this thing can fire barrages of Typhoons and able to carry 1500 of them easily. This is the "I Win" ship. If that is not enoght it can carry 10 PSP forward and combine with PPC/GC on the sides.

- K it may not look as much, but is the cheaper M2 to produce AND it can have PSP forward, PPC sides, FAA Up/Down and Starbursts on the back...
It also has the 2nd best steering of all M2.

- J now this is kinda interesting ship... for a M1 it has a very high firepower with all those M/A-M Launchers, its one of the best if not the best M1 for AI usage, just FAA forward and back and M/A-M L everywhere else. It can also fit 50 fighters what make it to make sence for that role, it also has the best steering of all M1s. And as for personal use, its fast enoght to kite M2s with those PPC on the back.
Also its cheap and fast to produce.
Only the Raptor may look a bit better with the speed and GC, but personally i hate the lack of steering it has on him, and for IA use that 2GJ less hurts.
The Odin and Woden too, but the Woden its more like a personal M1, and its hand to hand with the Odin...

As for boarding, what i do is to use a Sirokos with 26 marines, launch 21 first, and the other 5 as soon the first one reach the ship, generally i lost about 6 or 7 of them.
But using 21/3/3 may be more effective

[Araknis]

Well, its 1 month old thread, but since you brought it up, from my experience its all about how much reloading you are willing to do.
If you are willing to spent a few hours reloading, you ll get it either without any losses or only with a few (1-2 marines).
I prefer reloading than micromanaging wave after wave marines plus i value them way too much to just waste them for ships that are obsolete like Ks and Js. If perfect cap takes too long, 1 or 2 marines is an acceptable loss imo.

[Triaxx2]

I have to say, the J and K never seemed that good. The P is almost a fighter in turning, but the PX is a beast. It's one of the few corvettes I've found that can take on a Kha'ak Corvette without dying on it's own.